Article dispensing system



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9 00nveyor Cbuk Conveyor I; Mwydmkr o m b e 12o 119 Enbflaux 62020 Cane I Show Case luvezzlor Tfiomas As: kz'llman Nov. 3, 1953 T. s. SKILLMAN ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM 17 Sheets-Sheet 17 Filed May 13, 1949 mo n/ [nzrmfior Thomas S. Skillma'n 9 jfllom y Patented Nov. 3, 1953 Thomas S. Skillman,

South Wales,

Mosman, Australia, gineerinr Pty. Limit near Sydney, New

assignor. to Punch Ened, Cammeray, near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, a company of ew South'Wales ApplicationMay 13, 1949, Serial No. 93,206 1 Claims priority, applicationAust -alia February 24,1945

11. Claims. Cl. 235-92) This invention relates to a systemfor dispens ing articles of various character from storage.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Serial No. 643,945, filed January 28', 1946; new Patent No. 2,627,941. It is an object of the inventionto provide means whereby requiredquantities of different kinds of articles suchas those constituting the stock of a shop or store may be automatically or semi-automatically dispensed from shelves or bins upon or in which they have been stacked or otherwise pro-arranged or grouped.

According to one embodiment of the invention each kind of article in the stock is allotted some characteristic code which identifies it, such as a sequence or combination of digits or letters or both and when this kindof article'is required,

keys or other electrical contacts are opera-ted in accordance with this code to establish an elec trical circuit which thereupon operatesa storage and releasing device 'for the required kind of article and causes the required quantity thereof tobe released from the-storage position on to a conveying or distributingmechanism by which it is delivered toareeeptacle; wrapping counter or other desired destination. Each of said storage and releasing devices comprises a movia-ble an means operated by 'saidelectrical circuit to move memberon which said articles stand or the movable member so that each article in turn is brought into a position where it moves away" from the remaining articles by theactionof gravity. In this manner selections of required articles from a very largenumber of different kinds of articles can be rapidly carried out and the usual process whereby storemen,- or shop assist ants walk around and collect articles-fromshelves or bins is eliminated.

Accordingtoa feature of the inventiona reg-" istering and indicating: deviceis associated with: the aforesaid devices whereby a record of; thekind, quantit and/r value of the articles collected is recorded. This record the. form-of a, ticket is, in; one. embodiment of the invention.

delivered with. the articles and shows the total price which. the customer, has to pay.

The stock can be located in a. positionIremote; H

from the operating, devices. whereby the'use expensive shop front space forstorage i's'avoided'.

In one embodiment of the inventionfj a, small" fronted shop contains the operationposition and delivery position and the articles'are-brought automatically by conveyor from a store located" at a remote point, such as the back} yard or an} upper storywhere storage costs are much less! The release of the: articles on to the conveyor.

system can be effected by means of a magnetic clutch, which is energised as part of said electrical-"circuit and: causes a continuously moving member such as a rotating shaft to move the articles forward so that the foremost article top-- ples under the action: ofgravity on to the conveying system. During its fall it operates an elec" said counting device being set to the required number whereby articles continue to be released until the counting mechanism iscounted out.r Registering mechanisms" can be provided whereby the codesindicative of the required articles can be stored and thus a number of dif-- ferent batches of articles may be set up irrespective of whether thereleasing and/or conveying mechanism is ready to handle them. In this manner the same conveying and releasingmech-' anism can be used to convey different batches, these being separatedby the time at which they enter the conveying system.

Further features of the invention including provision ofalarm' facilities and cancelling facilities will be apparent from the description given below in connectionwith the drawings showing one particular embodimentof'the invention.

Fig. 1' shows diagrammatically a layout of the article dispensing system.

- Fig. 2 shows detailsofthe bin or shelf arrangement with the release mechanism;

Fig. 2a and Fig. 21) give details of the clutch mechanism usedfor the arrangement shown in- Figl 2.

' Fig. 3 and- Fig; 3a are diagrams showing the circuitslforthe selection and release of' articles.

" Fig.4 gives schematically the connections for a; registering and indicating device used in con nection" with a." system operated in accordance.

with the electrical circuits. as shown in Figs-Q 3 and 3a. a

Fig. 5 gives details for an arrangement-to dis of. articles to aplurality.-

tribute various batches of receptacles. I

Fig; 6 showsv diagrammatically. the arrangement Q of: a. plurality ofekey sets. and. registers and: the connections with an arrangement as shown in Fig: 3 and 'Fig; '5'.

Fig. '1 and Fig. 7a show the circuit diagram for a code storage register.

Fig. 8 and Fig. 8a show diagrammatically the arrangement for the selection of a plurality of articles of the same kind by the operation of "quantity keys.

Figs. 9, 9a, 9b and 90 give details of the displaceable guide members for the distribution of articles into various receptacles as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 5.

Fig. 10 shows an example of the layout of a shop using an article dispensing system according to the invention.

Fig. 11 shows how together to complete the Figs. 12 and 12a show, printer which can be used article dispensing system vention.

The system as shown in the layout of Fig. 1 provides for an operators position, a selecting relay group and a shelf arrangement which contains the necessary mechanism for the dispensing of the articles together with conveyor means to transport the articles to the wanted localities. A code or number storage register and a registering and indicating devices can be added if required. As the operator's position is only electrically connected with the shelf storage arrangement of the articles to be dispensed, this shelf arrangement can be separately placed from the operator's position and thus, for example, the operators position can be located on the ground floor of a shop, while the storage arrangement itself is located at an upper floor, an adjacent building or in any other locality. In this case th selected articles are transported to the shop by suitable conveying means.

Furthermore, it is possible to locate the stock in a central store and to transfer orders from outlying omces to the store where they can be picked up after completion.

The stock numbers in the latter case can be transmitted by any known method of code or number transmission.

The selection of articles from the operators position can be made by a shop assistant, or the customer himself may operate the mechanism to select his own goods.

The article dispensing system can be arranged for example as shown in Fig. 10. A shop I I8 has next to its entrance II9 show cases I20 which display the various kinds of articles on sale through the dispensing system and give their individual code or stock numbers. The counter I2I is divided between the operators position with the keyboard I and the delivery counter I22. The articles selected at the keyboard are released from the shelf arrangement I24 at the back of the shop and are then transported via conveyors 9, chutes I and conveyor II to the delivery counter I22. The necessary relays and other auxiliary devices for the system are arranged at the side of the shop as indicated at 1 and a printing device I4 can be so arranged that tickets showing the price of selected articles will be forwarded together with the articles themselves via conveyor II. At the back of the shelf arrangement I24 is the bulk store I23, in which the articles are stored before they are put into the various shelves.

Returning to Fig. l the operators position comprises a key set I which consists of a number of rows of ten keys as indicated at 2. Each row of ten keys is used for the selection of one the various drawings fit electrical circuits. by way of example, a

according to the inin connection with an travelling belts 9 "by an electric motor I25 to collect the articles 4 hundred shelves, the number of rows of keys thus being dependent on the number of shelf groups comprising one hundred shelves each. At the end of each row of keys are arranged a busy" lamp 3, a no stock" lamp 4 and a "Cancel" key 5. A further key Ii which is pressed whenever an order is completed is common to all the rows of keys. The functions of these keys and lamps will be described later on in detail.

The key set I is connected electrically via cable I21, the selecting group 1 containing the necessary relays and cable I20 with a shelf arrangement I24 in which the articles to be dispensed are stored. Each shelf or bin marked by a square 8 contains one kind of article and associated with each horizontal row of bins are which run continuously driven discharged from the horizontal rows of bins and transfer them to a wanted locality. Each article operates a trip contact I8 when it parts from its shelf. In the schematic layout of Fig. l the articles slide down chutes I0 and from there to a common conveyor belt II, travelling over a roller I2, to a delivery counter (not shown).

Each shelf is fitted with a storage belt I5 on which the articles are stored and all these belts can be connected individually by a release and clutch arrangement 23, 26 with a common driving shaft I1, driven by a motor I20 which drives also the common vonveyor H.

Details of the belt and clutch arrangement to release articles from the shelves are shown in Fig. 2, 2a. and 2b and will be described later on.

If required a code or number storage register I3 can be inserted between the key set I and the selecting group 1 and a registering and indicating device I4 can be added to print the code or stock number of the selected items and record their respective values.

When the operator receives the stock list giving the stock number of the articles required and the quantity of each of them, she keys the stock number on the key set and thereby operates the release mechanism associated with the corresponding bin.

The stock number or code consists of a preliminary digit or letter telling the operator which row of keys to select and is followed by two further digits representing a particular bin in one group of a hundred bins chosen by the preliminary digit. These latter two digits are pressed by the operator in succession on the selected row of keys. In the following description these latter two digits are referred to as the first and the second digit.

The articles selected and released from the bins fall on to a travelling belt 9 and from there down a chute III on to the common conveyor belt II, which carries the articles to the delivery counter.

Details of the bin or shelf arrangement and release mechanism are shown in Fig 2, Fig 2a and Fig. 2b. Each bin 8 of the bin arrangement I24 is fitted with a movable belt I5 upon which the articles stand or lie as indicated by the articles I6. The movable belt which is normally stationary can be driven by a clutch mechanism from a continuously rotating shaft II when the release mechanism of this particular bin is operated as described in detail later on. In this case the belt I5 moves forward until the foremost article I6 is brought into a position where it overbalances and thus moves away 

